​"Who knows but that before the next century dawns it will be recognized that the inventor of the bicycle has done more to revolutionize the religious, moral and social ideas of mankind than all the philosophers of our time?"--Pall Mall Gazette, quoted in "Bicycling Notes of the Month." Outing May, 1886, p. 240.

Both our cycles in this picture are replicas of models from the heyday of high wheeling. Mine is a replica of a Coventry Rudge Rotary tricycle; these were originally made in the 1880s and mine was crafted in the 1990s. Gabriel's is a Victory bicycle, a modern replica of an 1885 Victor.

The style of bicycle Gabriel rides is called an Ordinary bicycle. (Some 19th-century sources capitalized the "O" and others didn't; when I'm writing about them I use the capitalized form of the name to mitigate confusion for modern readers.) Riders of Ordinaries—in the Victorian era and today—prize them for their elegance, simplicity, and utter silence. Unlike a safety bicycle, Ordinaries have no chains to complicate things or rattle noisily. The ride on an ordinary is so smooth, in fact, that in 1883 a New York magazine coined the phrase, "As smooth as a bicycle." (Source: "Wheel News." The Wheelman. May, 1883, p. 152.)

An Ordinary is sized to a man's leg length, like a pair of pants. If the wheel is too big the rider can't reach his pedals; too small and his legs get caught under the handlebars. Gabriel is 5'10" and rides a 52 inch wheel. In 1883 a major American cycling firm reported the following statistics for wheels they had manufactured: "For every 61-inch machine sold, they have sold two 58-inch; sixteen 56-inch; fifty 54-inch; ninety-one 52-inch; one hundred and four 50-inch; sixty-nine 48-inch; thirty-three 46-inch; thirteen 44-inch; and twelve 42-inch." (Source: "Wheel News." The Wheelman. June, 1883., p. 233.)

At a banquet for the League of American Wheelmen in 1883, Clarkson N. Fuller declared, "[K]eep up your riding. It is good for you physically, and... mentally. It is innocent amusement. It is beautiful amusement, and the only objection that I have to it is that you can't take young women along. I like to ride with young ladies, I must admit." The crowd laughed, and Fuller continued, "I wish some ingenious mechanic would invent a bicycle on which you can take a young lady riding."

The club called out, "Tricycles!"

Fuller went on, "I believe the young ladies will ride tricycles; and it is the healthiest exercise they can have; and it is the most healthful exercise you can have." (Source: The Wheelman. August, 1883, p. 374.)

Which bring us to my cycle. There are several very good reasons women didn't ride Ordinaries. It should be remembered that underpants as modern people know them were a twentieth-century invention. Under their skirts Victorian women wore pantalets which were usually split right down the middle. These were more hygienic than modern underpants and incredibly convenient while using lavatory facilities; however, combining travel that places a rider's nethers at roughly eye level with split drawers creates an obvious problem! Besides, an Ordinary rider's legs straddle the wheel and there is no possible way to keep skirts out of the spokes. Photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) was one of the very few women who rode an Ordinary in the nineteenth-century; she took cross-dressing to such extremes that in her self-portrait with her Ordinary she is wearing a false mustache (the photo can be seen here: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsc.04884/?co=fbj).

Tricycles, however, are very skirt-compatible and much beloved by Victorian women cyclists. In 1888 the magazine Good Housekeeping reported, "The exercise of riding a tricycle is one highly to be recommended for women, especially young women who have nothing to do but imagine that they have got all the ills under the sun. A primary effect of riding is to strengthen the muscles, not only of the lower extremities, but those of the abdomen, chest and the arms, which are constantly being excited to contract... English women are as famous for propelling these three-wheeled vehicles as they are famous as pedestrians. One lady writes that she never enjoyed such good health as during “this, my first cycling year.” She rode 100 miles the first month; 210 the next; then 300 miles a until in the last two months of the season she rode 500 miles each, making 2,166 miles in eight months, a part of the time being lost by foreign travel. A 16-year-old girl writes that she has ridden four miles to school on her tricycle; and a 10-year-old girl rode 150 miles in a little over four months..." (Source: Good Housekeeping, July 7, 1888.)

There were a number of different styles of tricycles in the nineteenth-century. On many models the rider sat between two large wheels and a third, smaller wheel was seen out front or behind the rider. However finely they were made though, all the metal and solid rubber on those large wheels adds up to a lot of weight, so an asymetrical model was developed. The Rudge Rotary (which inspired mine) was known for its lightness and speed and gained a reputation as a racing trike. The right-hand grip turns the two smaller wheels in tandem with each other: They steer it. The big wheel drives the machine: It gets turned when the treadles go 'round. Here's a close-up of my hand on the steering grip:

Our cycling clothes are based on cycling uniforms from the nineteenth-century. Gabriel's uniform is modeled after one in London's Victory & Albert Museum and was made by a seamstress in Seattle. It is made of an English wool tweed, following the advice from nineteenth-century cycling literature that wool is the healthiest fiber to wear while cycling since it is breathable, durable, and suited to a range of conditions. Cyclists were so attached to their uniforms in the 1880s that it was perfectly acceptable for men to wear their cycling uniforms instead of formal dress clothes when cycling clubs organized fancy balls.

My cycling outfit is based on a fashion plate from the 1889-90 edition of Godey's Lady's Book. Following some advice from a period magazine, there is heavy leather sewn into the hem of the skirt to keep it down while I pedal.

***

Gabriel's antique Ordinary seen in this picture is an 1887 Singer Challenge. Writing the same year that this beautiful bicycle was manufactured, English Viscount Bury gave the following description of the company which produced it:

"A visit to the works of Messrs. George Singer & Co., of Coventry, will at once give a stranger an idea of the extent of the cycling trade. Established in 1875, Messrs. Singer & Co. did not make any specialty of racing machines until the season of 1885, having devoted their attention almost entirely to turning out all classes of road machines, bicycles, tricycles, manumotive velocipedes, children's velocipedes, and in short every description, the number of patterns being remarkable. The works in Alma Street are excellently arranged. Entering through a large hall, partly occupied by a clerks' office through want of more accomodation, the visitor passes into the large shop, on either side of which are to be seen storerooms containing an apparently inexhaustible supply of parts and fittings, piles of castings, bundles of steel tubing, coils of wire, lengths of iron material, indiarubber [sic] tires, all stacked ready for use; whilst in every room not otherwise used may be seen, in the spring of the year, hundreds of completed machines packed as closely as they will go, ready to be dispatched from the great packing-room across the road—which is the old Coventry Rink—now converted into a cycle shop, where machines of all classes are daily being packed and dispatched to every part of the globe. In the main shop, all the operations for the production of the various machines are to be seen going on with steady activity. Here is a workman drilling holes in a hub with the aid of a machine which not only drills them at the proper angle, but spaces them as well. Another is running the thread of the screw on to the spoke. Yet another is heading them. And all these varied operations go on continuously and without intermission throughout the year. For during the dead season Messrs. Singer work hard to lay up the stock which is to be seen in the store-rooms early in the spring. The Premier Works are also extensive and very interesting...

There are a large number of other firms engaged in the production of specialties, and so extensive is the industry that the production of minor parts and castings for the trade finds employment for large firms and much capital. Thus Messrs. John Harrington & Co., of Coventry, are devoted to the production of the well-known Arab cradle spring, and to the enamelling process which has now been adopted by a large number of manufacturers; Messrs. Thomas Smith & Sons, of Saltley Mill, Birmingham, supply the trade with castings and finished parts to almost any extent; Mr. W. Bown's ball-bearings have won an excellent name for themselves, and are largely adopted by the manufacturers; Messrs. Lamplugh & Brown, of Birmingham, the cyclists' saddlers, supply the trade with saddle-bags and other leather goods, requisites which have done a great deal to make riding comfortable; and a number of other instances could be given to show how great is the general demand in connexion with the cycling trade."[1]

An excerpt from the 1897 article, "Woman's Cycle:""Were the gift given us to look a bit into the future, what should we probably find the middle-of-the-twentieth-century girl wearing on her wheel - bloomers, very short tunics, or trouserettes and similar abominations in the sight of grace and sweet femininity? Not if she is the direct descendant of her nineteenth-century grandmother, who here in these United States, spite of talk to the contrary, and of the efforts of fashion, still sticks to her traditions and her skirts. Long may they wave, the petticoats in modest ankle-length folds of brown cloth or gray, since those are the best colors for cycling! In time may petticoats triumph over the women who fail to recognize that bloomers are too great a sacrifice for our sex ever to make, and that in skirts only can they maintain at once in the eyes of men their womanliness and their independence."

"As a gentleman remarked this afternoon, "Some of these riders have splendid calves." "Well," I said, "the calves are not on bicycles; there are a good many off, and I think sometimes they ride to show their calves." —Fuller, Clarkson N. quoted in The Wheelman, August, 1883, p. 374.​

The little bags on both our bicycles - as well as the panniers on Sarah's bike - were made by the Brooks saddle company in England. Brooks started making equestrian harnesses in 1866, then moved on to manufacturing bicycle gear when Wheels started to replace horses.

Here is the story of the Brooks company, quoted from their website:

"Over almost a century and a half, Brooks England has grown from a small workshop to a byword in quality craftsmanship. Back in 1865, John Boultbee Brooks left his hometown of Hinckley in Leicestershire with just £20 in his pocket.

He headed for Birmingham, where in 1866 he established a business in horse harnesses and general leather goods in Great Charles Street under the name JB Brooks & Co. In 1878, the unfortunate death of Mr Brooks’ horse led to a stroke of inspiration. Unable to afford another horse, he borrowed a bicycle in order to commute to work. He found the seat so uncomfortable that he vowed to do something about it.

On 28 October 1882, Mr Brooks filed his first saddle patent. Waddling cyclists everywhere rejoiced and the new product was a roaring success. JB Brooks & Co. became known and respected for its beautiful leather handcrafted saddles, and soon started to make cycle and motorcycle bags and other accessories..."- Source: http://www.brooksengland.com

Our May, 2015 trip to Victoria, B.C., Canada

We rode from Port Townsend to Port Angeles, then took the Coho ferry up to Vancouver Island. Between the ride there, the ride back, and some puttering around on the island, it was about 132 miles. A marvelous trip!

***The Trail of the Coeur d'Alene'sIdaho PanhandleAt the end of summer 2015, we spent a week riding our high wheel cycles along the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene's in the Idaho panhandle. This marvelous path is part of the Rails to Trails program. Back in the late 19th-century, the route we were following was part of the Union Pacific Railroad line. Unfortunately, in the 20th-century when cars superseded passenger trains, the lines became defunct. Sections of the old railroads have recently been converted to paths for cyclists and pedestrians—for more on the Rails to Trails program, see http://www.railstotrails.org. The Trail of the Coeur d'Alene's, the route we were following, goes between tiny towns and abandoned silver mines in the Idaho panhandle. There are still plenty of functional mines in the region, and this area remains the silver capital of the world.For more on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene's, visit: http://friendsofcdatrails.org/index.html

Sarah with her trike, on a bridge on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alene's. This photo shows how much more carrying capacity the Victorian tricycles had than their brother bicycles. The blue bundle strapped to the long rod between the little steering wheels is a canvas roll containing our spare clothes. In the 1880s, men usually chose Ordinary bicycles over tricycles because the bikes were lighter and simpler; male tricyclists were either geeks who preferred complicated technology, or men who wanted extra luggage space—hunters, photographers or artists. (A gun, tripod or easel could be strapped to the long rod of the trike just like we strapped our clothes there.)

***Gabriel on his Victory at the 2015 Viking Tour

On Sunday, May 17th, 2015 Gabriel rode his Victory Ordinary in the Poulsbo-Port Gamble Viking Tour, an organized cycling event. Around five hundred riders participated in this 35-mile event, but Gabriel was the only one on an Ordinary!

Mounting an Ordinary bicycle slideshow:

​"…on every extensive ride I not only meet with many people who have never seen a bicycle, but I also meet with not a few who have never even heard of the existence of such an instrument. Observing me rolling the thing on foot, they often ask if I am "measuring the roads for a map"; and when I assert in reply that the wheel is designed to be ridden upon, they no more believe that I am speaking seriously than they would if I declared it to be a balloon with which one might fly through the clouds. The words and looks with which such simple folk manifest their astonishment when the miraculous mount is made into the incredible saddle, and the impossible vehicle is driven swiftly along before their very eyes, cannot be reproduced by any ingenuity of the pen." —Kron, Karl. "Ten Thousand Miles On A Bicycle." New York, 1887, p. 8.

***

In order that we can go on longer bike tours without risking damage to Gabriel's antique Singer, in 2014 he procured a Victory, a replica of the 19th-century Victor cycles. Here are some short little snippets of him mounting and dismounting in the parking lot of the B.I. Cycle Shop after its arrival. Enjoy! (These videos were taken by a friend just a few minutes after Gabriel had unpacked and assembled his Victory, so he's still in his work clothes, which made things a little challenging. He looks far more graceful in his riding clothes!)

In a seaport town in the late 19th-century Pacific Northwest, a group of friends find themselves drawn together —by chance, by love, and by the marvelous changes their world is undergoing. In the process, they learn that the family we choose can be just as important as the ones we're born into. Join their adventures in

In the summer of 1881, a Pacific Northwest town is buzzing with curiosity over a mysterious package received by handsome young Dr. Brown. Kitty Butler, the town dressmaker, is as curious as anyone else. She only knows one thing about that crate in the post office: everyone else's guesses about its contents are all wrong.

When Dr. Brown unpacks the crate and reveals the first bicycle the town has ever seen, he wants to share his enthusiasm for this revolutionary new piece of technology —but encounters overwhelming hostility instead of the excitement he'd expected. The only one who seems positively interested is the pretty young widow Kitty Butler, and Dr. Brown soon realizes how much he needs her support…​​

"I'm sure he'll be glad you're here —once he gets used to it." When Jacob Simmons arrives in Washington Territory in the summer of 1882 and receives a glacial reception from his uncle Silas, he appreciates Dr. Brown's encouraging prediction but doesn't have much faith in it. Jacob's not even sure Silas will have time to get used to his presence, let alone consider him welcome. If the young man can't meet the draconian requirements of a contract with his business investors, he'll face exile and financial ruin, thus fulfilling old Silas' prediction that he would be just as dismal a failure as his father. His whole future rests on finding a market for a remarkable new machine —and he'll need help selling them. *** Addie Kellam is an incredibly lonely young woman. She's more comfortable with books than with other people, yet she longs for the sort of romance she reads about in stories. It's something she fears she'll never experience herself, since even friendship seems elusive. She envies the cameraderie her brother finds in his cycling club, but the only bicycles in the town of Chetzemoka are specifically designed for men. There aren't any wheels for women anywhere —are there?

When the delivery of a mysterious letter to Silas Hayes' mansion is followed by the arrival of a beautiful young woman who claims she can communicate with the dead, Nurse McCoy sniffs trouble in the wind. It's obvious to her that the newcomer is after Silas' fortune, but he is helplessly in awe of the medium's eerily intimate knowledge of his past and her seemingly supernatural abilities. Meanwhile, Kitty Brown's yearning to reach out to the departed spirit of her first love is making her push away her new husband, just when she needs him the most. The whole situation is a dreadful mess, and McCoy's got to straighten it all out before Silas' nephew and his bride come back from their honeymoon. Honestly, she doesn't know how any of the fools in this world would get along without her…

It's obvious to everyone in the Chetzemoka cycling club that Lizzie and Isaac could make each other very happy —but does anyone really listen to their friends about affairs of the heart? A prim schoolmarm and a stoic steamship captain are hardly the people to discuss their sentiments, especially with each other. The smallest challenges seem like huge obstacles, even with everyone else trying their best to bring them together. When progress finally seems possible, a well-intentioned little girl steps in with the kind of help they'd be better off without. Will the situation be resolved in time, or will Isaac ship out for good?

*****

There is something inherently romantic about cycling, and there has been since the first riders set their wheels to the road. This collection of nineteenth-century poetry, prose quotes and bon-mots about cycling reflects both the ardent passion and the innocent affection cycling inspires. From the glory days of high-wheel cycling through the boom of the safety bicycle, riders were falling in love with their wheels, with new-found freedoms, and above all with each other. This delightful little collection tells of those days in their own words, and evokes sentiments which every cyclist will find timeless. Compiled edited and introduced by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of the charming Tales of Chetzemoka cycling club series, This Victorian Life, Victorian Secrets, and others.

The verses embraced within these pages have been kissed awake after a long slumber. Copied from the fragile pages of nineteenth-century books and magazines, they are the whispers of lovers long entranced. In this beautifully diverse collection of Victorian love poetry high-born ladies and their eloquent beaux keep company with simple maids whose sweethearts pledge their love in simpler —and often much funnier— terms. Prepare for your happy sighs to be joined by occasional giggles while you hold this book close to your heart.Compiled, edited and introduced by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of the charming Tales of Chetzemoka historical fiction series, This Victorian Life, Victorian Secrets, and others.

Eloquent statements are like the seeds of beautiful flowers: in the fertile garden of the mind they grow and blossom into inspiration, reflection, and rewarding conversations. The Victorian era was a time when people expressed themselves skillfully and beautifully, and the writings of that age are a rich legacy from the past. This little volume is a collection of sentiments on an array of subjects, among them:

Books: "A minute's reading often provokes a day's thinking." —W.H. Venable, 1872. "Books are those faithful mirrors that reflect to our minds the minds of sages and heroes. A good book is the precious life-blood of a master spirit treasured up on a purpose for a life beyond." —J.F. Spaunhurst, 1896.Writing: "Every new book must have, in the consciousness of its author, a private history that, like the mysteries of romance, would if unfolded have an interest for the reader, and by unveiling the inner life of the volume show its character and tendencies." —Sarah Josepha Hale, 1866.Language: "The [Ancient] Greeks said that barbarians did not speak, they twittered." —Charles DeKay, 1898.The Sexes: "It is better for men, it is better for women, that each somewhat idealize the other." —Gail Hamilton, 1872.Love: "True love is that which ennobles the personality, fortifies the heart, and sanctifies the existence. And the being we love must not be mysterious and sphinx-like, but clear and limpid as a diamond; so that admiration and attachment may grow with knowledge." —Henry Frédéric Amiel, 1880.Optimism: "Refuse to dwell among shadows when there is so much sunshine in the world." —Hester M. Poole, 1888.History: "The past is our wisest and best instructor. In its dim and shadowy outlines we may, if we will, discern in some measure those elements of wisdom which should guide the present and secure the welfare of the future." —Frederick Douglass, 1889.Work: "Make the most of your brain and your eyes, and let no one dare tell you that you are devoting yourself to a low sphere of action." —Anonymous, late 19th-century

Keep this book in a place where its wisdom can refresh your spare moments, or buy a copy for a friend to brighten their day. May the flowers of thought thus planted bear rich fruit for you.

​Compiled and edited by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of The Tales of Chetzemoka, This Victorian Life, and others.

Words For PartingVictorian Poetry on Death and Mourning Love and grief and the two most private, and at the same time the most universal of all human emotions. It is for love that we remember the dead: love of their spirits, love of their vibrancy, love of the good deeds which they did and which live on after them. The poems in this collection were all written by grieving hearts who have now themselves passed over into that great mystery. We can not truly know what death is, yet we know it will come to all of us. In ancient times when a friend told the philosopher Socrates that his judges had sentenced him to death he responded, "And has not Nature passed the same sentence on them?" Inasmuch as there can ever be any comfort for those left behind, part of it lies in knowing that death is a reflection of life. When it comes we cry, then we take our first faltering steps towards understanding. In time we become accustomed to this manifold enigma which nature has given us, and then ultimately we look towards the future with hope. If this little book of poems may be of some help to those in sorrow by reminding them they are not alone, then it will have done its work.​ Compiled and edited by Sarah A. Chrisman, author of the Tales of Chetzemoka series, This Victorian Life, and others.

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